The lawsuit alleging negligence by the government said that the Defense Department is avoiding legal and financial responsibility for the killings by referring to the shootings as “workplace violence” rather than as a terrorist attack.

The 148 plaintiffs — many of whom apparently filed unsuccessful claims last year — are also saying the government knew for years that Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, currently on (much delayed) trial for murder in the attack,

was a fanatic Islamist extremist who supported jihad, suicide attacks and violence.

For his part, Hasan has managed to drag his trial out for years, most recently by growing a beard.